The Figure of Eight by Cecil Waye

Author:Cecil Waye
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dean Street Press
Published: 2020-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

The assistant commissioner, in entrusting Inspector Philpott with the investigation of what had by now become known as the Eton Street murder, knew very well what he was about. Philpott, though perhaps not exactly a genius, was a man who combined the ability to see, as far as the rest of us, through a brick wall, with the tenacity of a bull-dog. In addition to this, his intimate relations with the head of the firm of Perrins were an advantage to him.

Although there were to be found a few officers of the C.I.D. who were sceptical of the powers of any private detective agency, the assistant commissioner did not share their view, at least as far as Perrins were concerned. It was his faith in Christopher Perrin, as the hidden force behind Inspector Philpott, which decided him to allow the latter a free hand. His life at the time was not an easy one. His superiors worried him incessantly for the names of those who had instigated the murder. Nobody believed that the two Montedorians had killed Señor Vincente from some motive arising out of their own passions. It was quite evident that they had been suborned for the purpose. The envelope found upon one of them, addressed in the handwriting of the President of San Benito to Isabelle de Laucourt. merely strengthened the general conviction that an agent of San Benito must have planned the deed. And the authorities plagued the assistant commissioner almost hourly for the name of this agent, in order that representations might be made to the San Benitan Government, demanding his or her instant punishment.

So far, the assistant commissioner had been unable to furnish the required information, and had in consequence drawn upon himself a storm of official disapproval. “The man you have detailed for the investigation is a fool,” the Home Secretary had said to him in the course of a heated interview. “Why don’t you put the whole force on it? I don’t believe you understand the urgency of the matter. This is no ordinary murder; the fate of nations may depend upon our being able to bring it home to the San Benitan Government. You ought to know how powerful a backing they have on the Continent. If we could show that they are prepared to stoop to methods of assassination, they would be discredited in the eyes of their supporters, and would probably be forced to abandon their preposterous claim to Porto Fino. And even the most elementary student of politics can see that this would remove the present menace of war. Something must be done about it without any further delay.”

“Believe me, sir, I quite appreciate the urgency of the matter,” had replied the harassed assistant commissioner. “I know how important it is that this murder should be brought home to the San Benitans. But, if I may take the liberty of saying so, I cannot help feeling that the investigation is rather one for the Intelligence Branch than for the police.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.